Stove



C. EHRET Dec. 16, 1941.

STOVE Filed June 7, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 6 a 7 4 2 3 2 i 4 63. 22 9as, w fl 5 R08 5/ w Cl 1: Eh 15 emen re ATTORNEY.

Dec. 16, 1941. v c, E 2,266,627

STOVE Filed June '7, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V INVENTOK Clement Ehret TI/i904 BY p A ORNEY.

Patented Dec. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Clement Ehret, WhitePlains, N. Y. application June 7, 12:32:10. 2

8 Claims.

adjustment of the associated stove body. The

stove body may thus be mounted in stationary position while the top maybe regulated to the most convenient elevation for the person who is tocarry out cooking operations thereon.

The adjustable stove top of the present invention may be associated witha stove body of any construction. For example, it may be mounted uponthe stove body of any of my stove patents heretofore issued, or it maybe mounted upon any conventional stove body.

Similarly the stove of the present invention may utilize any desiredtype of heating medium, such as electricity, gas, oil or other fuels andthe .surface heating elements which are associated with the adjustabletop are preferably mounted on and carried thereby, so as to maintain adefinite relationship between the heating elements and the top at alltimes and irrespective of the adjustment of the top.

The invention provides means for feeding the heating mediumuninterruptedly to the burners or heating elements in such a way thatthe feed of the heating medium or the operation of the heating elementswill not be affected by the vertical adjustment of the top or by therotation of such top in such structures as provide for such rotation.

- Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will beapparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when readI in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate difierent practical embodiments ofthe invention but the constructions therein shown are to be understoodas illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stove embodying the present inventionwith the upper portion of the stove and top in central section andillustrating the manner in which the feed of fuel may beuninterrupte'dly accomplished to the burners of a gas or oil stove.

.Figure 2 is a fragmental central section of. a

modified form of construction adapted to employ electricity as theheating medium.

. Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illus-.

trating a modified form of construction embodying this invention.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section showing another modified form of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a stove -body of any desiredconstruction. It may rest directly upon the floor, may be supported onappropriate legs or may be mounted upon a suitable base indicated at 2.The stove body may have one or more ovens closed by oven doors 3 andthese ovens may have appropriate heating elements for supplying heatthereto. These parts of the stove construction may be looked upon asconventional, so far as the present invention is concerned and theinvention is not to be understood as limited to any particularconstruction of stove body or its support other than such stove body besuch as to properly support the top for adjustment, as hereinafter morefully described.

By reference first to Figure 1, which shows by way of illustration, agas stove, .4 designates the stove top which may be in the form of aplate, grid or a combination thereof and on. this top is supported aplurality of burners 5 in any appropriate number. These burners are fedfrom an annular header 6 with suitable valves for controlling the flowof gas from the header to the burners individually. The top 4 may beprovided around its periphery with a depending annular skirt or shield Iwhich preferably telescopes over the exterior of the body I, so as tocover and conceal the space between the top 4 andthe body I as theformer is adjusted to the desired elevation.

The skirt 1 may be permanently secured to the top 4 but is preferablydetachably suspended thereon on brackets Ia riveted or welded to theskirt and resting in depressed locating seats in the top. With thisarrangement the skirt may be lifted off when it is desired to gainaccess to the space between the top and body for any reason whatsoever.

The means whereby the top may be vertically adjusted with the associatedsurface heating elements 5 may vary within wide limits. However, inFigure 1, the following adjusting means is shown. Mounted on the top ofthe body in said top rigidly to the hub ll. the hub and positionedcoaxially of the top is a at this point. The hub H has an annular flangeI5 intermediate its height and the top 4 rests upon and may be bolted tothis flange to secure Mounted within short length of pipe 18 whichisthreaded rigidly into the hub as shown at 11 and projects down-.

wardly into the threaded post 8 and into this pipe projects a pipe I8which is a part of the fuel supply [9 mounted on the stove body. Thepipes l6 and I8 have a close slidin tit and the lower end of the pipe l8may, if desired, have a packing gland so as to preclude leakage of gasatthis point while permitting the pipe Hi to slide up and down withrespect to the pipe l8 which i fixed.

Fuel fed through the pipe I9to the pipe I8 is fed into the pipe l6 andpasses through an opening 20 in the latter pipe into a cored passage 2|which communicates with a pipe 22 leading to the manifold 6. By virtueof these connections, fuel may be fed to the manifold and to therespective burners and may be controlled by the individual cocks ofthese burners as stated.

In practice the manifold may if desired be mounted on the exterior ofthe skirt, but I prefer to mount it interiorly so as to leave theexterior of the skirt unencumbered thereby.

With the top 4 rigidly secured to the hub and supported thereby asdescribed, it will be apparent that the top with its hub may freelyrotate on the carrier nut 9 while supported by the antifriction means 13to permit of ready access to any particular burner without requiring theoperator to reach over one burner to another. This rotation, moreover,may be accomplished without efiecting vertical adjustment of the top 4.

Extending radially beneath the top 4 is a locking rod 23. The outer endof this rod is juxtaposed with an aperture in the skirt while the innerend of the rod passes through a bracket 24 on the hub and projectsthrough an aperture into juxtaposition with the carrier nut and thecarrier nut is provided around its periphery at the elevation of the rod23 with a series of holes 25. A spring'ZB interposed between the bracket24 and a fixed collar 21 normally retracts the inner end of the lockingrod from the holes 25 of the carrier nut, so as to permit of freerotation of the top. A second fixed collar 21a limits the outwardmovement of this rod. However, there is mounted on the skirt, adjacentthe outer end of the rod 23, a manually operable cam 28, so constitutedthat in one position, it will permit the rod 23 to retract and allow thetop to turn and in another position will force the rod inwardly, so thatits inner end will enter one of the holes 25 of the carrier nut and thuslock the top against rotation with respect to the nut. When thus lockedthe rotation of the top will efiect vertical adjustment thereof to theelevation which will be most convenient to the operator and when the tophas been placed in such adjustment the cam 28 may be manually operatedto unlock the top nut 9 threaded thereon as before.

for free rotation, so that it can be turned at the will of the operatorwithout effecting any change in such vertical adjustment.

By the means described, it is possible to operate the stove normallywith the top free for rotation and when desired vertical adjustment maybe accomplished by appropriate manipulation of the cam 28 followed bymere rotation of the top.

The construction of Figure 2 is the same in all respects so far as thestove and top construction is concerned. A threaded post 8 is supportedon the stove body I in rigid position with the carrier The hub llcarries the top 4 and the locking rod 23 functions as described in thepreceding figure. However, instead of providing the telescoping gas orliquid tight connections in Figure 2, appropriate modifications areprovided for the feed of electric current. To this end there is mountedfirmly within the post 8 an insulating core 29 which carries a rigidupstanding metal sleeve 30 and-a rigid upstanding coaxial metal socket3l. .Wires 32 and 33 feed electric current to the sleeve 30 and thesocket 3| which are insulated fromone another by the insulating core 29.In the top of the hollow hub is mounted an insulating fixture 34carrying a metal sleeve 35 which, telescopes over and makes slidingcontact with the metal sleeve 38, while a central rod 36 telescopes witha sliding fit into the socket 3|. A wire or cable 31 electricallyconnects the sleeve 35 to the several heating elements of the top I,while another wire or cable 38 connects the central rod 36 with suchheating elements. With this arrangement all of the heating elements willbe fed from the wires 31 and 38 with appropriate switches associatedwith each heating element to control the feed of current thereto. Therotatable and slidable connections between the sleeves 30 and 35 andbetween the socket 3| and the rod 36 provides for free rotation of thetop 4 and for vertical adjustment of the top with respect to the body I.

In Figure 3 I have shown a further illustrative modified form of theinvention. Here stove body I is supported-on legs 39 and has therein anoven 48 spaced from the outer wall of the body as is common. Theadjustable top 41 is provided on its under side with dependinginternally threaded tubular posts 42. Any number of these posts may beused but three or four will suffice. Into each of these posts extends athreaded shaft 43 which projects downwardly through the top wall 44 ofthe stove body into the space laterally of the oven. Eachof these shaftscarries a fixed collar 45 bearing on the wall 44 to support the weightof the top 4| and a sprocket 46 is also fixed to each shaft. Asprocketchain 41 is car- 'box 5| on the stove body. The outlet box is fedSuitable from a heating medium supply 52. means such as switches (notshown) are incorporated in the connections of the heating medium supplyto control the feed thereof to the heating elements individually.

In the construction of Figure 3 the stop top assess:

is mounted for vertical adjustment without attendant rotation, but, ifdesired, it may be mounted for rotation also.

It is also to be noted from Figure 3 that the adjustable top is providedwith a depending skirt or shield 53 which telescopes into an upstandingshield 54 on thestove body. This allows of considerable adjustment ofthe top 4| without leav-- ing an unguarded space beneath it. Inpractice, the guard may be carried by either the top or stove body orboth.

In Figure I have shown another modified form of the invention verysimilar in many respects to the structure of Figure 1. In Figure 4, thetop 4 is provided around its periphery with an upstanding flange 55, butthe skirt or guard depending from the adjustable top is omitted to leaveopen the space between the adjustable top and the stove body I. Thethreaded post 8 and the connections for the feed of heating medium arethe same as in Figure 1 and the rotatable top 4 is supported on acarrier nut 9, as in Figure 1, but in Figure 4 the carrier nut 9 hasradially extending arms or spokes 56 carrying at their outer ends therim of a hand wheel, so that the carrier nut 9 forms in thisconstruction the hub of an adjusting hand wheel. This rendersunnecessary the employment of the locking rod 23 for the verticaladjustment of the top is obtained by grasping and turning the hand wheel51 which may project to any extent desired, so that it may beconveniently manipulated. There is sufllcient friction between thethreads of the carrier nut 9 and the threaded post 8, so that this handwheel will remain stationary when the stove top is rotated in the usualcourse of cooking and the top may be held stationary if desired when thehand wheel is adjusted.

The structure of Figure 4 is, like the other I structures, capable ofuse with any heating be provided for vertically adjusting the top withrespect to either gas, oil or electric stoves. but the constructionsdescribed are simple, economical and convenient and are believed to besuftlciently illustrative of practical means for accomplishing thispurpose. They illustrate the adjustment of the top at the will oftheoperator while permitting of free rotation of the top when this may bedesired in the ordinary routine of cooking.

In such constructions of this invention as provide a rotatable stovetop, the top may be turned by grasping it directly or by the switches orvalves which control the feed of the heating medium to the heatingelements or said top may have heat insulating handles of any appropriateform for this purpose.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in itspreferred practical form,

and the invention is to be understood as fullying threaded post thereon,a carrier nut threaded onto said post, .a stove top supported forrotation on said nut while the nut remains stationary, and means forlocking the stove top to the nut, whereby rotation of the top willthereupon raise or lower the stove top with respect to the stove body.

3. A stove comprising a stove body, an upstanding threaded post thereon.a carrier nut threaded onto said post, a stove top supported forrotation on said nut while the nut remains stationary, means for lockingthe stove top to the nut, whereby rotation of the top will thereuponraise or lower the stove top with respect to the stove body, heatingelements carried by said stove top, and means, including rotatable andextensible connections, for feeding a heating medium through thethreaded post to said heating elements.

4. A stove comprising a stove body having an oven therein, a stove top,means for normally supporting the stove top for simple rotation whilethe stove body remains stationary, said means including complementarilythreaded upright members which remain stationary while the top rotates,andmeans to lock the top to one of said members, whereby rotation ofsaid top will thereupon vertically adjust the top to differentelevations.

5. A stove comprising a stove body having an oven therein, a stove top,means for normally suportlng the stove top for simple rotation whilethestove body remains stationary, said means including complementarilythreaded upright members which remain stationary while the top rotates,and means through which rotation may be imparted to one of said membersto adjust the top to diflerent elevations.

6. A stove comprising a stove body having an oven therein, a pair ofcomplementarily threaded imparting rotation to said member, and meansfor imparting rotation to one of said threaded members with respect tothe other threaded member to adjust the top to difierent elevations.

7. A stove comprising a stove body,,an upstanding threaded post mountedon the stove body, a threaded member screwed upon said post, a stove topsupported on said threaded member with an interposed anti-frictionbearing to permit normal rotation of the stove top without impartingconjoint rotation to the threaded member, and means for temporarilysecuring the stove top of said threaded member to permit of axialadjustment oi the latter with respect to the threaded post when desired.

8. -A stove comprising a stove body, an upstanding threaded postthereon, a carrier nut threaded on said post, a stove top supported forCLEMENT EHRET.

